Should crypto and porn be getting close?

When I think of culture, I think of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Given that Bitcoin has found its first real use as a medium of exchange for the popular (now defunct) Silk Road black market network, and interest in music-focused NFT and crypto brands has exploded, it's safe to say crypto is growing in an energy culture. But what about sex?

When OnlyFans decided to take sex workers off their platform last summer (mainly used for intimate gatherings between creators and fans), many urged the adult industry to adopt cryptocurrencies. The site, then and now full of custom porn, nearly killed the division at the bank's behest. At the last second, OnlyFans reversed course. The situation has shown how clearly crypto can benefit the mature industry. Crypto technology innovations are very simple by nature: Distributed digital tools are hard to censor or stop. For an industry often criticized by socially conservative moralists, a little resistance to censorship can help.

“Independence and counterculture. This is something the two industries have in common,” says Deborah Sandal, a renowned author and leading expert on female ejaculation. There are a number of crypto platforms created with sex in mind. Founded by Amin Soleimani, SpankChain wanted to be a tool for buying everything from naughty videos to sex swings. Bits and Chains is a portfolio that allows sex workers to take more control over their BTC. LiveStars was introduced to Ethereum as a sexy streaming and social networking platform. Individual creators also benefit from this year's NFT revolution; they sell "thirst traps" and nude figures at auction for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.

Then there are industry heavyweights like Pornhub, one of the sites with the most online traffic, when only cryptocurrency payments were accepted in 2020. This is under pressure from traditional payment providers like Visa and PayPal. Playboy, the "men's lifestyle" brand, has been experimenting with crypto for a long time. A few years ago, they issued an “industry representative token” that would power a “video entertainment platform” with cryptocurrency as the local currency. This year, Playboy released a series of irreplaceable tokens (NFT) with a rabbit theme, promoting stronger brain meditation on the “art of sex and sexuality”.

Many smaller websites run with or contain crypto as a payment option. Some - like Strip 4 Bit, Xotica, Tits for Bitcoin - embed Bitcoin into their brand and follow a long line of fun porn titles. But here are the nuts. As intimate as crypto and porn are, most of these services are barely used. As for spankchain, usually media reports from people with financial stakes in $SPANK do the same thing I presented: that crypto and porn should be mixed, not because they own it. At least it's slow.

For example, Litecoin founder Charlie Lee said, "[$97 billion] The porn industry is definitely a leading indicator of technology adoption...I'm glad they're open to cryptocurrencies." That was in 2018, when Pornhub first announced it would integrate Verge Altcoin (of all coins) for payments. Has the industry really thrived since then? Porn is often celebrated to encourage technology adoption. There is good evidence that the VHS home cassette standard is superior to the more established Betamax as it is the preferred choice for the porn industry. It is an industry that has also spawned "independent films" and DVDs.

“They take a new technology and turn it into a product. Practical use. Innovative. It will be very, very interesting to know what they do now with blockchain, payment systems, and who knows what else,” said ejaculation researcher Sundal, referring to innovators in the adult entertainment industry.

Innovation

On the one hand, it is possible that most crypto innovation takes place behind closed doors. Crypto is a powerful tool for online content creators trying to build brands and companies independently of a larger structure. Porn sees fragmentation and specialization as it does anywhere else on the web – there are more independent content creators than ever. Crypto could allow sex workers who are not affiliated with talent managers to post content that is rare even for state-restricted sites like Pornhub. Those with a certain fetish – a truly special one – may be ready to go through the cryptocurrency payment process if they are already forced to use certain websites to their liking.

In addition, crypto offers a certain anonymity. It is very difficult for anyone, including platform managers, to estimate how many people are using crypto services because not every address corresponds to a unique user. This secrecy appeals to both buyers and sellers for obvious reasons. The extent to which cryptocurrencies help sex workers diversify their sources of income or leave the fiat payment system (Mastercard can spend every penny) remains to be seen whether cryptocurrencies can win. (Not that the niche industry should aim to do that.)

Also read: Why the cannabis industry needs crypto

Many popular social apps, including SnapChat and Tumblr, use sex primarily as a test object. Consumers adopted it because of their poor nudity standards. Established community, scalable platform - just to clean up porn later. It's easy to wipe out Christian moralists like Exodus Cry, the anti-OnlyFans group. But there are lots of good reasons why the adult industry needs to have some sort of oversight. So far, no one knows how the platform can eradicate abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking without harming most well-meaning creators. Many popular social apps, including SnapChat and Tumblr, initially used sex as a test object. Consumers adopted it because of their poor nudity standards. Established community, scalable platform - just to clean up porn later. This is because it is difficult to manage things like age restrictions and FOSTA/SESTA regulations while keeping the platform open to everyone.

Crypto platforms, theoretically open source/open access, have an answer for people or governments looking to censor allegations of copyright infringement: that you have to take the good with the bad. In terms of human rights violations, this may not be a satisfactory answer. In fact, this is often just a bit of mental masturbation, as many crypto projects are willing to give up decentralization, reverse transactions, block content, and protect copyrights. (You may be wondering what is the use of crypto?) It is clear that crypto is not the ideal solution. But as long as it helps people push their limits, that's a good thing. It is good that some things remain niche.